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Correctional officer admits accepting $5,000 in bribes

A former correctional officer pleaded guilty Friday to accepting $5,000 in bribes from the relatives of two inmates, federal prosecutors announced.

Cheryl Wheeler, 53, of Wabasha, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a public official in connection with bribes she accepted while working as a correctional officer at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester.

Wheeler, who was charged in August, admitted she demanded and received money from relatives of two inmates in exchange for giving the inmates tobacco. The transactions took place July 2009 through February 2010, according to federal prosecutors.